Various Artists – Punk-O-Rama V. 1 [DVD]

Lately, there has been loads of DVDs released, bands are releasing them, labels are, everyone is! And I believe that it is a good idea, it is great way to expose punk videos to people who would not normally see them. It is hard to find a lot of punk music videos other then the major ones (Blink182, Sum41 etc.), but this compilation of 22 Epitaph music videos is amazing.

The videos ranged from their older videos of 1994 to their new ones of 2002, showing a a good improvement throughout the years. But music videos are not the only things you can watch on this DVD. There isThe Epitaph Story, The Bouncing Souls Live, Pennywise – Behind The Scenes at the “Fuck Authority” Video Shoot and then lately, Bad Religion Live in ’92.

The Epitaph Story is probably the most interesting part of the DVD. It is a documentary (around 40 minutes long) with many of the original staff members from the label talking and remembering how it all began and stories throughout the year.Some of the people talking are those like Brett Gurewitz (owner/founder of Epitaph/Bad Religion), Fletcher (Pennywise) and Fat Mike (NOFX). The stories they tell are incredibly interesting. Brett talks about how they got the name of Epitaph, the first time he dealt with a distributor, how the label was put on hold for a bit, and loads of other stuff. He is a funny guy, and tells you stories that gets you interested. Some other stories they tell are the likes as The Year Punk Broke (in 1994), and then an awesome party they had for Pennywise. Fat Mike tells some very funny stories, but I won’t ruin them for you, you have to get the DVD to hear them.

The story gives you a really good idea of the label, and it makes you respect them for not selling out with all the offers they’ve received. If you think they are a major label, or a indie, you still have to respect them for doing all they have, and for giving us some of the best punk bands around!

The live videos are good, during the Bad Religion one, they have a excerpt of the band members interviewing the other members. The behind the scenes of the Pennywise video is pretty good, it gives you a idea of how the process goes slightly, with the band just goofing around too.

The music videos themselves are good, all with good ideas, and it is neat because you get to see the progress videos have done over the years. The best videos would be (in no order) Guttermouth – She’s Got The Look, Pennywise – Fuck Authority, Hot Water Music – Paper Thin, Refused – New Noise and then finally Descendents – I’m The One.